Nepal/India: Kathmandu Valley, Terai and Ganges Plain by bicycle

Nepal/India: Cycling the Terai, the Ganges plain and Kathmandu ValleyMost people come for the Himalaya; a trekking to Everest base camp is rarely lacking. We wish to see the other Nepal and cycle the length of the flat Terai at the feet of the giants, where the age old Asiatic way of live dreams along. But before we arrive there we go through some nerve testing in Delhi, where we start, and the plains of the Ganges in India. Finally we climb into the hills and the bowl in their midst: Kathmandu Valley. Overflowing with religion, enlightment seems just around the next bend in the road, but madness is never far away.

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'Prayer flags over the Tribhuwan Highway.'
Between Daman and the Simbhanjyang Pass the Tribhuwan Rajpath (highway) snakes its way up past the Shri Rikheshwar Temple. The switchback near the temple passes under a multitude of prayer flags. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

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'Prayer flags over the Tribhuwan Highway.'
Between Daman and the Simbhanjyang Pass the Tribhuwan Rajpath (highway) snakes its way up past the Shri Rikheshwar Temple. The switchback near the temple passes under a multitude of prayer flags. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

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'Simbhanjyang Pass'
After passing the Simbhanjyang Pass at an altitude of 2488 meter the Tribhuwan Rajpath (highway) snakes down over jungle-covered slopes into the Terai. Photo Paul Smit & Mick Palarczyk.

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'Terai village in Rapti valley.'
Terai village in the valley of the Rapti east of Nepalganj. Photo Paul Smit.

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'Terai village in Rapti valley.'
Terai village in the valley of the Rapti east of Nepalganj. Photo Paul Smit.

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'Festival gate near Nepalganj.'
In a Terai village just north of Nepalganj, two pedlars, their bicycles packed with pots and pans, have just past the gaudy gate of a local festival. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

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'Prayer flags over the Tribhuwan Highway.'
Between Daman and the Simbhanjyang Pass the Tribhuwan Rajpath (highway) snakes its way up past the Shri Rikheshwar Temple. The switchback near the temple passes under a multitude of prayer flags. Photo Paul Smit.

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'Prayer flags over the Tribhuwan Highway.'
Between Daman and the Simbhanjyang Pass the Tribhuwan Rajpath (highway) snakes its way up past the Shri Rikheshwar Temple. The switchback near the temple passes under a multitude of prayer flags. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

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'Simbhanjyang Pass'
The Tribhuwan Rajpath (highway) leading south from Kathmandu in the direction of India reaches its highest point at the Simbhanjyang Pass, south of Daman. Photo Paul Smit.

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'Landscape along the Tribhuwan Highway.'
Landscape along the Tribhuwan Rajpath (highway) south of the Simbhanjyang Pass. Photo Paul Smit.

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'Terai village in Rapti valley.'
Terai village in the valley of the Rapti east of Nepalganj. Photo Paul Smit.

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'Terai village near Manahari.'
Near Manahari, in the Terai west of Hetauda, a small village sits on the edge of the wide floodplain of the Karra Khola. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

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'Festival gate near Nepalganj.'
In Nepal local festivals can be an unexpected colourful experience for western travelers, as here in a Terai village just north of Nepalganj. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

Between Daman and the Simbhanjyang Pass the Tribhuwan Rajpath (highway) snakes its way up past the Shri Rikheshwar Temple. The switchback near the temple passes under a multitude of prayer flags. Photo Mick Palarczyk.